Commissioner Queeley: Heavy Investment in National Security Will Yield Results

On Jun 24, 2017

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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, June 23, 2017 (Press Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister) – Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ian Queeley, remains confident that the recent investment in National Security by the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis will continue to yield positive results. The commissioner, however, urged citizens and residents to be patient as additional projects and programmes are rolled out over time.

Appearing as a guest on Wednesday’s edition of “Working for You”, Commissioner Queeley said that law enforcement agencies are moving in the right direction with regards to crime detection and prevention, but stated, “there is no silver bullet, it does not happen overnight. It takes time to put systems and processes in place and we are building out those systems and processes as we go along.”

The Police Commissioner went on to publicly commend the Team Unity-led Government for its investment in National Security, particularly in the area of new technologies.

“We recognize the fear of crime within our communities and that is why I applaud the government for actually accepting the recommendations we would have put forward to invest in the use of technology by means of the CCTV programme,” the commissioner noted, adding that there are engineers here “who are doing training in terms of building out of our capacity in the use of technology and CCTV coverage throughout the country because we see it, and it is built into our six-point plan, as both a preventative and an investigative tool.”

The government assigned approximately $72 million to the Ministry of National Security in 2017, the largest yearly budgetary allocation ever given to it. This sum doubles the combined total amount disbursed in 2014 and 2015.

During the most recent sitting of the National Assembly, Prime Minister and Minister of National Security Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris said the government has made significant investment in policing technology, “including significant sums in the comparison microscope to upgrade the quality of service available in our fledgling forensic department. This of course, has helped the police match weapons to multiple crime scene incidents. We are building out our CCTV programme and for that we have brought in and have had the assistance of one of the largest and the most respected CCTV camera producers in the world in VIVOTEK.”

The Government’s support to law enforcement also includes upgrading the fleet of vehicles being used by the different agencies. Last year, vehicles valued at over $800,000 were handed over to the St. Kitts and Nevis Defence Force.